Manuscript Submission

What kind of papers are appropriate for AOAS?

We hope to publish papers that have substantive applied origins and involve relevant datasets, while also being of interest beyond the specific application. Papers that include innovative methodology brought to bear on scientific/policy questions and relevant data are especially welcome. Typically, a paper will be framed around one or more unresolved applied problems, where data are introduced to help address them. Data analyses should go well beyond numerical illustrations of calculations of proposed new methodology, with particular emphasis put on comparative analyses and substantive findings. Submissions without methodological innovation will be considered if the topic is of exceptionally broad interest, the application is groundbreaking, and the statistical methods used are state of the art.

How should papers be written?

AOAS is intended to be read by all professional statisticians, as well as
by other scientists who are interested in particular areas of statistical
application. It is important for the abstract and introduction to say
What scientific/policy question(s) the paper addresses, Why the topic
is of interest, and How the data analyses will address these questions,
in as non-technical a manner as possible. Click on "Guidelines for
Referees" for more on the kind of papers published in AOAS.

Style

There are a few stylistic differences between AOAS and other
IMS journals:

References should be in the name/year format.
The initial
reference in each section should be full, e.g.,

Smith, Jones, and Roberts (1992),

using "et al." for more than three authors; subsequent references can
be abbreviated, e.g.,

Smith et al. (1992).

We encourage use of the IMS LaTex template when preparing your manuscript. The default setting is for numbered citations and references. To get the name-year format, change the line

What materials can be submitted along with the paper?

We strongly encourage submission of data sets, computer algorithms and supporting material (see instructions below.) This can help the editors and referees in the review process. We will archive supporting material along with the electronic versions of accepted papers.

How are papers submitted?

Papers must be submitted electronically. Access the Electronic Journal Management System (EJMS) at http://www.e-publications.org/ims/submission/.
If you are a first time user complete the registration (you are only
required to register once.) After registration you can submit your
manuscript. Manuscripts must be submitted in pdf form.

Attached documents are allowed and strongly encouraged for data sets, algorithms etc.
Programs should be self-contained and run on standard platforms.

Manuscripts should be word processed with wide margins at sides, top and bottom and should be single-spaced. Figures and tables should be placed where discussed, or nearby; they should not be moved to the end of the manuscript. (Manuscripts prepared for A4 paper should have top and bottom margins wide enough to accommodate printing on 8.5 x 11 paper, and similarly, manuscripts prepared for 8.5 x 11 paper should have wide enough side margins to accommodate printing on A4 paper.) Use of LaTeX is preferred as that will facilitate conversion of the manuscript to its final published form.

Please see the LaTeX support page for IMS publications to use the IMS recommended template.

How are papers handled?

Your paper will be screened by the Editor-In-Chief and and if appropriate it will be assigned to an Area Editor with relevant substantive and methodological expertise (you get to suggest an area on the submission form, but we may change the assignment). The Area Editor has full control of your paper after that, including final decisions concerning publication. All further correspondence concerning the paper will be with the Area Editor.

Archive for supplementary material

Because applied statistics is focused on substantive problems revolving around real data, most of the papers in AOAS will deal with the analysis of one or more datasets. In keeping with the principle that scientific results need to be replicable, AOAS strongly encourages authors to make the data used in papers published in AOAS available for others to analyze. The editors recognize that this is easier to do in some situations than in others. Some data sets may already be available electronically and only a pointer (URL) is required. For data gathered on individuals and organizations, the preservation of confidentiality may prevent complete public access, but "privacy-protected" extracts without identifiers may be sharable, or individuals can request access to confidential files through special licensing or other agreements.

For material that is important to the paper but that may be extensive or secondary to the primary arguments, authors are encouraged to utilize web-based supplementary files. These may include data sets, software, or extensive mathematical derivations, in addition to algorithms or code for carrying out the analyses presented in a paper. Such supplements will be included in the review process and, when an article is accepted for publication, links to these supplements will be permanently posted with the electronically accessible version of the journal at Project Euclid.

Follow the instructions here if your paper/supplement has been accepted for publication.